{Brad’s Corner} July 2004

Brad’s Corner is a monthly commentary written by Brad about whatever he feels like. It’s supposed to be funny, interesting and thought provoking, but most geniuses are misunderstood. Check out the July 2004 edition of Brad’s Corner and see what’s on his mind.

July is my favorite month. I’m not exactly sure what it is but the month just stands out for me. I guess one of the reasons is that my birthday is on the 14th, my sister’s is on the 17th, and my brother-in-law’s birthday is on the 21st. Combine that with the fact that I have several friends with birthdays in July and it leads to one conclusion: a lot of parents were getting busy in the Octobers of the 70’s.

As a kid, July is that point in the summer when you finally get into the groove of having been out of school for a month and you still have a few more weeks to goof off. By this point, you’ve perfected sleeping past noon, slacking off at your crappy summer job, going to lake, driving around aimlessly, spending the little money you make from your crappy summer job, and sleeping over at your friend’s house who has a later curfew than you. Actually, that last one can be used year-round. As an adult, July means: rounding up a babysitter; complaining about the teenagers driving around aimlessly with their loud rap or rock n roll music; moaning about how hot it is; trying to figure out how you’re gonna save up enough beer and gas money to make it to Willie’s Picnic. Then avoiding Willie’s big show because you’ve decided you don’t like big sweaty crowds and loud music anymore.

I can’t mention the month of July and not talk about July 4th. Ah, yes, basically it’s America’s birthday and we celebrate by doing just what our forefathers did: We get really, really, really drunk and set off fireworks while really, really, really drunk. Well, on second thought, I think our forefathers just got really drunk and dressed funny. I don’t know if they lit anything and watched it burn up the sky. They wouldn’t want to get their wigs and makeup dirty.

Minor Chords: -Don’t forget the big Randy Rogers Band/Galleywinter CD Preview Party and River Float. The big event will be at 2PM Sunday July 11th at the Lone Star Floathouse in New Braunfels with a Saturday night party featuring Doug Moreland and his Big Hat Band at Saengerhalle.

-Speaking of Moreland…big congratulations to he and the former Miss Suzan Yates. They tied the knot in Gruene last month. I had the honor of attending and it was a beautiful ceremony. Wishing y’all many years of happiness. Just hope Holly’s not too jealous! Also, Texas Music magazine has a nice feature on Doug in their latest issue, check it out.

-Lori aka Jknjrdnzmom was the first person to take part in the new Brad’s Corner feature of asking me a question. Her question was: Do you think you can break down a band and say one part is more important than the other…. including the lead singer?

She was specifically talking about Creed. My answer is no. You can’t just break down a band and simply say ‘so & so’ is more important to the band’s success than this other guy. In Creed’s case I think Scott Stapp was a total tool who got caught up in his own hype and really thought he was some kind of missionary doing God’s work. Their first album was great. I felt like Mark Tremonti (the lead guitar player) did more for them than Scott Stapp and his 8th grade spiritual poetry. Throughout music, there have been cases where adding, changing, removing or breaking up bands has been for the betterment of the music and the artists themselves. Some examples would be: Metallica kicking out Dave Mustaine and putting him on a Greyhound bus in favor of Kirk Hammett. Dave went on to form Megadeth and Metallica became the biggest band in the world. The flip side of that scenanrio occurred when Motley Crue lost Vince Neil and replaced him with John Corabi. Who? Exactly! That move didn’t work out for either party as Motley went from being a top band to a band that probably couldn’t fill a 500 seat venue. Same for Vince’s solo project.

-Next month I expect some good questions…they don’t have to be music related…I’d like to play Dr. Phil and consult with my relationship counselors Threecurl and Slapahoe.

-The Lost Trailers posted the best tour diary ever…Van Man…find it, read it.

-My friends and me went and played Bingo the other night. It was funny; we had some cold beer and hung out. I figured if I’m gonna just sit around and do nothing tonight while I drink cold beer; why not have a chance to win some money while I do it. We came damn close to the $750 prize in one game and got a dirty look from a “regular” for being too rowdy. So, I’ll consider it a successful evening.

-When did Cody Canada raid Slash’s closet? Have y’all seen the top hat?

-With the mention of Slash that gives me an opportunity to suggest y’all go pick up the Velvet Revolver CD: “Contraband”…it’s good.

-On to this month’s suggested CD: Kiss “Unplugged” For some old Jewish guys who wear make up they do a really awesome job on this CD. It was the first time that Ace and Peter had played with Gene and Paul in years as they came out to do a few tunes. If you like them or just good mellow music, check out Kiss “Unplugged”; it’s probably my favorite of the Unplugged aside from Nirvana’s monumental effort.

-This month’s suggested movie: Six Pack starring Kenny Rogers and a young but still very hot Diane Lane.

“Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.”-Mark Twain